The 46-day hostage ordeal for 20 Indonesian sailors held in Somali waters has ended with the payment of a ransom to their captors and the release of all hostages on board the captured vessel.

The 20-strong crew of the MV Sinar Kudus were immediately taken to the nearest port in Salalah, Oman, on Sunday afternoon after the Somali pirates who took them hostage left the cargo ship with the ransom money.

“The crew members are safe. They are on their way to the nearest port and are receiving medical help,” Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul said here Sunday.

He said the Indonesian Navy — which had been sent to the area earlier — was escorting the Sinar Kudus and that a doctor had been sent on board the ship to examine the crew.

Publicly listed PT Samudera Indonesia, the owner of the ship, said a ransom was paid to the pirates wh...